By Gardiner Spring
Excerpts from The Attraction of the Cross
Intro by Bob Beanblossom
10 August 2016
It seems to me that faith is a subject that we can never learn too much about. We all have faith in something. We have faith that the unseen driver coming over the hill on a two lane road is driving on the proper side of the road. There are, of course, many more examples. Although they dispute the contention, even atheists have faith–but theirs is a faith in man, not God. ‘A rose by any other name,’ so to speak.
When we consider Christian faith, we recognize three aspects: 1) It is a gift of God, 2) Conversely, it is not a result of the pursuit or will of man, and 3) We can never reach a full understanding of faith this side of death. For the Christian:
Faith is a commandment of our Lord: “And Jesus, answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.” (Mark 11:22)
Faith is the gift of God, given in the measure He decides: “And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.” (Luke 17:5) “. . . that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 2:5) “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:8) “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every the man the measure of faith.” (Romans 12:3)
Faith is the source and result: “For therein is the righteousness of God in revealed in faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:17)
Faith results in action: “. . . I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” (Galations 2:20b) “. . . The just shall live by faith,” (Galations 3:11b) “. . . remembering without ceasing your work in faith, and labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father.” (1 Thessaloonians 1:3)
Faith is the power and protection of the Christian: “above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fire darts of the wicked.” (Ephesians 6:16) “But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love . . .” (1 Thessalonians 5:8)
This article is an excerpt without comment from Gardiner Spring’s book, “The Attraction of the Cross,” from his chapter “The World Crucified by the Cross.” Gardiner Spring was an American preacher, born in 1785. Trained in the law, he turned to the ministry when he felt the call of God. He died in 1873 after serving 63 years in the pulpit of the Brick Presbyterian Church in New York City.
For me, Gardiner Spring is not light reading. He is profound and insightful, but not ponderous. The challenge is to understand the depths of his insight into our relationship with God.
Here, then, is the excerpt from “The Attraction of the Cross.”
“The faith of a true Christian is one of the senses of the soul. It is the taste which has a sensible relish for Divine things; it is the touch which is conscious of the correspondence between the renewed nature and its Divine Author; it is the delicate sense which inhales those fragrant breezes of heaven which fan and blow upon it; it is the ear to which things unseen are no longer shadows, because “God hath revealed them by His Spirit.”
“This is the source and principle from which all right views of eternal realities originate, and which give them their peculiarity. Because they are convictions of certainty, they are strong and impressive convictions. There is a strength and vividness in the impressions of eternal things entertained by a spiritual mind, which the world knows not of. They have an unction from the “Holy One.”
“They are habitual, if not steadfast views. While neither perfect constancy nor perfect uniformity may be claimed for them, they possess a power which, when duly felt, extends itself to all times, as well as to all places.
“The objects of faith have in themselves no such mutability. God never alters; heaven never alters; hell never alters; the truths of the Gospel never alter. Nor is it of less importance to remark, that the views of eternal realities, taken at the cross, are welcome and joyous views. Unhappy Christians there are, but unhappy Christianity there is none. It were not surprising if such views should exert a strong practical influence.
“There is no part of the Christian character that is not affected by them. The cross is the mirror which reflects eternity. It is here that the believer feels that a few years at most, perhaps a brief day, is all that separates him from that vast world which is unseen and eternal. It is but a little step, a span’s breadth, a pulse stop, and the finite is exchanged for the infinite.
“The thought of eternity is a great and stupendous thought. This is both the starting-point, and the goal; the beginning, the middle, and end. It is the “prize of our high calling.”
There is much more. Reprints of his books are available on Amazon and elsewhere.